H-1B

H-1B Information

This information is for The University of Texas at Arlington hiring departments who are interested in hiring a foreign national. This information is also for current foreign national employees at UT Arlington. This information does not constitute legal advice.

H-1B, or Temporary Worker, nonimmigrant status may be granted to a non-U.S. resident who has been offered a professional-level position in the United States. For UT Arlington H-1B sponsorship, the position must require at least a bachelor's degree, and the individual must possess at least a bachelor's degree. Experience cannot be substituted for either requirement.

In order for a person to obtain H-1B status, the prospective employer must file a petition with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security/U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) [formerly INS]. The International Employment Coordinator files all official H-1B requests for The University of Texas at Arlington, after receiving a formal request from the hiring department. It is very important for the Department Head to understand the U.S. laws and regulations related to an H-1B status before submitting an H-1B Request to the International Employment Coordinator. Please review UT Arlington's policy and procedures entitled "Hiring Temporary Nonimmigrants."

A hiring department can initiate the H-1B process by completing a "Request to Initiate H-1B Petition" and submitting this to the International Employment Coordinator at box 19569. The department should further refer to the information and forms regarding the H-1B petition process and costs found on this website and contact the International Coordinator with questions.

Processing times for H-1B petitions vary, from three months to up to one year; please note that much of the processing time is beyond the control of the International Employment Coordinator. If H-1B status is being requested for an individual outside of the United States, processing times are significantly longer and departments should be mindful of this when planning for employee start dates.

It is the responsibility of the hiring department to notify the International Employment Coordinator, in a timely manner, of the request for H-1B status for a new employee or for an extension of status for an existing employee. Hiring departments and foreign national employees will also be expected to timely provide the International Employment Coordinator with requested documentation necessary for the petition process.

H-1B Fee Information

The Employing Department is responsible for all fees associated with the H-1B petition. The maximum potential fees which may be incurred for an H-1B petition are $2,000. This amount includes:

$325 filing fee for the H-1B petition itself, the I-129.

$500 fraud prevention and detection fee required for each new H-1B petition (not required for a petition extending H-1B status with the same employer)

Miscellaneous mailing fees- FedEx, UPS, certified mail, etc.

$1,225 potential premium processing fee- depending on the timing of the petition, it may be necessary to fast-track the petition with the premium processing option. It is strongly urged that the Department pursue premium processing of an H-1B petition if it has been filed regular processing, and the new foreign employee has not received his/her approval notice at three weeks prior to the requested employment start date.

Miscellaneous overseas consular processing fees- if the foreign national is abroad, the Department will need to pay an additional filing fee to the consulate.

Any costs associated with the filing of H-4 dependent petitions should be paid by the beneficiary; the University has no obligation for these fees.

Return Transportation of Alien

If the employee is dismissed before the end of the authorized period of H-1B employment, the sponsoring department will be responsible for paying the reasonable costs of return transportation to the employee's home country. This is required by USCIS regulations, to ensure that the foreign national will not be stranded in the U.S. without being able to return to his/her home country.

Required Documents for H-1B Processing

H-1B Initiation by Department and Foreign Employee

The following form must be submitted by the sponsoring department to the International Specialist to initiate the H1B process.

The H1 Foreign Employee Questionnaire must be submitted by the foreign employee-beneficiary to the International Employment Coordinator to initiate the H1B process. The foreign employee must also submit certain documents to support the H1B petition. Please refer to the H1 Foreign Employee Document Checklist for guidance.

Documents Required from Sponsoring Department

These are memorandums required for compliance with U.S. Department of Labor and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services regulations. As part of the H-1B petition process, the University must provide documentation related to the H-1B beneficiary's employment here. The memorandums below are part of this required documentation. These memorandums are templates which the sponsoring department must change/supplement to reflect the specific information related to the H-1B beneficiary. The department chair should sign off on all of these memorandums. Not all of the memorandums will apply to every situation. For example, most departments will not need to complete the "no other jobs memorandum" as this is only required when the H1B beneficiary is in a unique job title not held by any other employees of the department. Please do not hesitate to contact the International Specialist with questions as to how to complete the memorandums.

Documents for Foreign National Employees

Change in H-1B Beneficiary Job Duties, Work Location, or Resignation/Termination of Employee

The Employing Department is responsible for notifying the International Employment Coordinator if the H-1B beneficiary's job duties change, if the location of employment has changed, or if the H-1B beneficiary resigns/is terminated from his/her position. A change in job duties, job location, resignation, or termination of the H-1B beneficiary creates certain legal obligations on the part of the University to amend/revise/revoke documentation which was filed pertaining to the H-1B beneficiary's status.

UT Arlington International Travel Policies for H-1B Employees

Foreign national employees currently maintaining H-1B status must check in with the International Employment Coordinator at least two weeks prior to engaging in international travel. This purpose of this policy is to ensure that employees have all of the proper documentation to return to the U.S. and to ensure that employees are aware of the potential risks of international travel. Travel Warning: it is likely that a foreign national employee will encounter significant wait times when applying for a re-entry visa to the U.S. at the embassy/consulate abroad. If this situation arises, there is nothing that The University of Texas at Arlington can do to assist the employee, aside from providing the employee with paperwork documenting his/her current non-immigrant status. Wait times are a direct result of increased U.S. security measures and are unavoidable. Please consider that such wait times may impact your employment in that you will may be delayed in resuming your job duties.